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Gala will help rebuild Paul Stefan Foundation home

Ashleigh Kassock | Catholic Herald

Paul Stefan Foundation Gala guests, pictured at a past gala, enjoy an evening while supporting the home for women and their children. COURTESY

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Nothing sets a project back quite like the damage caused by fire
and water. The Paul Stefan Foundation, an organization that gives shelter to
mothers in Unionville, experienced this firsthand when arson damaged its new
Regional Maternity House and Education Center Oct. 17, 2016.

 

The center, which has space for 25 women and their children, was
scheduled to open this past spring but is now slated to open late fall or early
winter, according to Randy James, founder and president of the Paul Stefan
Foundation.  The six-month setback
inspired the theme for this year’s annual gala, “Thy Will Be Done.”

 

“We really had to keep focused on that because He wants us to be
here for these women and these babies,” said James. “You have to have something
that drives it because you can get discouraged pretty easily.” James started
the organization with his wife, Evelyn, after the death of their infant son,
Paul Stefan, who died at birth from a lung defect. Being able to work for his
son is what keeps James going every day, he said.

 

Proceeds from the gala will go to defray the $200,000 in damages
incurred by the fire, which destroyed rooms in one wing while water from the
sprinkler system damaged other rooms.

 

The foundation raised $26,000 immediately after the tragedy
through the charity of hundreds of people.

 

Currently they have the capacity to care for 12 women between the
other two Unionville locations, which are run by four full-time employees and
150 volunteers. The Regional Center will more than double their ability to help
women and also will provide extra space for a commercial-sized kitchen, day
care center, library, craft room, chapel, classrooms, lounge and exercise
center.

 

The new home in Unionville can’t open soon enough. James said the
organization receives about 10 calls a week from women inquiring about
placement.

 

The gala is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
Speakers include Randy and Evelyn James along with Father Stefan P. Starzynski,
chaplain at Inova Fairfax Hospital, and March for Life President Jeanne
Mancini. There will be dancing, food, a silent auction and many other ways for
people to help the Regional Center rise from the ashes and welcome new mothers
in need. 

 

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